Choosing your perfect cross-training (a guide for aerialists)
Time is precious, but the benefits to cross-training are significant.
If you choose your cross-training wisely, you can boost your overall fitness (and therefore efficiency, endurance and power in aerials) by increasing your total amount of exercise per week, but without overloading your joints from the constant, repetitive stress of aerial specific-training.
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3 steps to make sure you start the new year motivated and kicking goals
I ditched the new year’s resolution a long time ago, then I found that there is a better way to do things. Take a moment now to consider the past 12 months, and in 30 minutes you’ll guarantee that you’ll be hitting the ground running in the new year.
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Partner warm ups #2
Time for part 2 of our partner warm ups series. If you haven’t seen the first video and read the accompanying notes, go check it out over here. In video number 2 we’re concentrating on warming up your students glutes. Wait! Didn’t we do that last time? Well, last time...
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How to get your students warmed up faster and have them more engaged
One of our favourite ways to warm students up is using partner based exercises. Partner warm ups are a huge asset to have in your coaching bag of tricks. Not only do they give your students a good work out, they are super fun, and encourage the social aspect of your...
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Why having a baby has made me a better coach
You may have noticed that we’ve been a bit quiet on our end over the last few months. We’ve been a bit pre-occupied due to the arrival of our new baby Elke Mae in August. Elke is now 9 months old and I’ve had some time to reflect on the past year. In particular, how...
read moreFunctional Conditioning for Tissu – Split Lunges
In part 2 of our series on functional conditioning for Tissu. We cover split lunges, another fantastic exercise for strengthening the gluteal muscles. By developing these muscle groups we provide strength and stability through the pelvis, helping to prevent injuries...
read moreFunctional Conditioning – Assisted Squats
This is the first part in a series of functional conditioning exercises for aerialists. These exercises can be added to dynamic warm ups or strength training in your programs. In this first video, Free Coulston, physiotherapist and co founder of Circus Training...
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Coaching for effort – how to get results by making your students do the work
“I never really viewed myself as particularly talented… where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic” - Will Smith What is talent? It’s easy to see someone display the mastery of a skill and call it talent, when in fact, what we are witnessing is the result of a...
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6 Reasons I love coaching
What made you start teaching circus skills? Did your coach ask you to help out on a class? Were you drawn to the idea of sharing your knowledge with others? Although not everyone's experience, my first foray into coaching seems similar to many others I’ve asked this...
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Why buying aerial silk fabric at Spotlight is a bad idea
We’ve all heard it “Did you see the girl who made an act out of climbing the drapes?” or what about “I could do that, I’m going to go home and practice on my curtains”. Oh my. The jokes. So witty. Pure hilarity. What’s not hilarious is people who grab some material...
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The most successful teaching strategy used by the best coaches
In teaching circus classes, the coach requires many skills to ensure his or her students develop, improve and grow. Typically these skills may be broken up into a couple of categories; hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are usually the measurable kind, such as a...
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Aerial Silks, knees, and how to prevent injuries.
Last year, I was asked a question by another aerial coach, which was both intriguing, and at first a bit of a puzzler. She was wondering, “How do you prevent knee injuries on tissu when dropping to one knee?” This was a great question as I had not witnessed this...
read moreHow to set exciting goals for you and your students
Some circus types love training for the sheer physical thrill of it, while some train so they can have more tricks to perform, others see training as a way to challenge themselves. Regardless of the motivations, once your students have the circus bug, it’s definitely...
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The start of a new circus
Bathurst, 1996. Charles Sturt University. A small group of theatre students put together a lively and well received circus show as part of the Bathurst 1000 car race, and the company Circus Monoxide was born! Within a year the group took ownership of a bus, painted it...
read moreMotor Learning Made Simple
Research has shown that regardless of the physical skill being taught, learners have some distinct commonalities. If we as coaches understand these similarities, we can use them to ensure success for our students. According to one of the earliest theorists in the area...
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8 traits of an awesome circus coach (with infographic)
What things do great coaches do? What helps to make them awesome? After years of working with other coaches, there are some distinct traits that seem to crop up again and again. Although this is not an exhaustive list, all the coaches that inspire me certainly tick...
read moreWhere do we cross the line?
One arguably important aspect of circus is the element of danger. Incorporated into a circus class, facing danger can have transformative effects on students. There is much to be gained facing something fearful and rising to the occasion to conquer it. In some cases...
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Are you safe? Can you prove it?
With all the best intentions, injuries can and do happen when running circus classes, and when these do, they open up the possibility of legal action against both the coach and the circus school or club. In the unfortunate event this happens to you, you may find...
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Wanting to add some variation to your warm-ups and conditioning?
Pilates exercises develop core strength, which is an essential part of circus training. The core muscles are the deep, internal muscles of the abdomen and back, including the pelvic floor and TA (Transversus Abdominus). When the core muscles are strong and doing their...
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